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The presumptive presidential nominee for the Democrats Joe Biden denied the accusation leveled against him of sexual assault and challenged the Senate to find any documents tied to the allegations, Reuters reported.
“No, it is not true. I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened,” Biden told MSNBC in an interview when asked about the accusation of molesting his former aide in 1993, which his campaign had also previously denied.
The accusation leveled against him
Tara Reade, a woman from California who worked as an assistant of Biden, alleged in multiple media interviews that the nominee had sexually harassed her in 1993.
According to media reports, the pressure is mounting on Biden to directly address the media on the accusation before the US goes for the election 2020 that is scheduled for November 3.
“This is an open book. There’s nothing for me to hide,” Biden said in the interview, conducted from his home in Delaware where he is self-isolating during the coronavirus outbreak.
In a letter, Biden asked the Secretary of the Senate, Julie Adams, to find any document tied to the allegation made by Reade and make it public if it exists, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.
Biden said that he never knew of any complaint filed by Reade and had not made anyone sign a non-disclosure agreement. He further said that he would not question Reade and why she had made the complaint.
Biden, in the past, remained unequivocal about the sexual charges and said that all women must be given benefit of doubt, and on Friday he said he was not going back on his word by rejecting Reade’s allegations.
“Women have a right to be heard and the press should rigorously investigate claims they make. I’ll always uphold that principle,” he said. “But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters.”
Trump’s response
In an interview on Friday with radio host Dan Bongino, Trump said if the accusations were false, Biden should deny them. “Just go out and fight it, it’s one of those things,” Trump said he would advise Biden. “I’ve been a total victim of this nonsense, false accusations.”
He further added: “We do not know what, if anything, was done to Tara Reade, but there cannot be one set of rules for Joe Biden and another set for everyone else.”
US President Donald Trump has also been accused of sexual assault by numerous women of making unwanted sexual advances.
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